Page 138 of The Problem with Players

“Yup.” I sniffled and rolled my shoulders back. “Just like that.”

“Then go,” he whispered, his voice cracking.

I stood as tall as I could even though I felt extremely fragile. As I stepped out of the front door, Nathan said, “Congratulations, Avery, you did it. You pushed me away. You can have your life, and I’ll go on with mine. But just so you know, all I wanted—all I’ve ever wanted—was for this. For us. I just wanted another chance to love you.”

He turned and walked into his house, leaving me standing there to close the door for him. It only seemed right, seeing as I was walking away this time, not him.

I got into my car, and I only made it a few minutes down the road before I burst into tears. I couldn’t breathe, let alone drive. After pulling the car over, I reached for my phone and dialed Willow’s number.

“Hey, Ave. What’s up?” Willow asked.

I sobbed on the phone, unable to get any words out.

“Okay, okay. Hey, it’s all right. What’s going on? Where are you?”

I somehow managed to state where I was located. She heard me loud and clear.

“Don’t worry,” she swore. “I’m on my way.”

When she showed up in Big Bird, she parked right behind my car. She climbed out of her vehicle and rushed to my passenger seat.

“I’m sorry,” I cried as she pulled me into her arms. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” I kept repeating. I wasn’t certain if I was apologizing for inconveniencing her time or if I was still apologizing to Nathan for leaving. Or maybe I was apologizing to my own heart for breaking it again.

“You’re okay. You’re fine. I got you,” she swore, pulling me closer to her as she hugged me. “Everything’s going to be okay.”

I sobbed even harder when she said those words.

Because I knew they were a lie.

42

NATHAN

The problem with breaking up with Avery was the fact that the baseball postseason wasn’t over yet. We still had two weeks left together. We’d still had to interact in front of the guys, day in and day out, as if nothing was different between us.

She’d do her best to act unfazed by the fact that she ripped my fucking heart out and stomped it out while she went over strategies. I hated everything about it. What I hated more was that she seemed…okay. She seemed fine with the fact that we weren’t us anymore. We didn’t even get long enough to really become us, either. It felt like déjà vu. Our shot at happiness was once again being ripped away prematurely.

“You got everything for the final tournament games?” she asked me as I stood in her office. She began packing up her paperwork. She’d been avoiding eye contact, but that wasn’t unusual over the past few days. She’d been working her ass off to avoid looking my way.

Her damn stubbornness was going to be the death of me.

“Yup. We’re all set. The bus will be here at two to transfer us to Ridgedale.”

“Perfect.” She picked up her duffel bag and tossed the strap onto her shoulder. “If there’s anything else you need before?—”

“How the hell are you all right?” I snapped, getting more and more annoyed with her nonchalant persona. “How are you acting like everything’s all fine and dandy when I’m sitting here fucking broken?”

Avery’s lips parted as she froze for a moment’s time. A flash of hurt shot through her eyes, showing me that she wasn’t handling it as well as she had me believing. She still cared. She still felt. She was just working her damnedest to suppress those emotions. She blinked a few times before a hardness returned to her stare. She rolled her shoulders back and cleared her throat. “Do you have any more questions before Ridgedale?”

The coldness of her words sliced through me.

“Nope,” I said. “Nothing else.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow,” she stated, walking my way to leave.

As she crossed my path, I grabbed her arm and pulled her close. “Why are you doing this, Coach?” I whispered. “Why are you pushing me away?”

Her voice cracked, and she closed her eyes for a moment. “I have to, Nathan. I can’t…I can’t…” Her eyes opened once more, and I saw it again—the aching of her soul seeping out from her irises. “Please let me go,” she said, her voice barely audible.

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